Method of packing asparagus for the growing field

ABSTRACT

A method of harvesting asparagus utilizing an asparagus harvester which engages the growing asparagus in the field, saws the asparagus below the ground, releases the asparagus butt first onto a grooved belt, then conveys the asparagus up an incline where the asparagus is conveyed butt first onto a second grooved conveyor belt and against a stop member; this conveyor belt travels perpendicular to the first belt. After the asparagus comes to a stop, the butt portions which were growing underground are sawed off by a second saw, and the remainder of the spears are allowed to travel along this belt until they reach a sorting member at which they are sorted into two predetermined lengths; the short spears are passed directly from this member into one box. The longer spears are oriented tip first and are carried up a conveyor belt to another grooved conveyor running perpendicular and horizontal to the last conveyor. Here the longer spears are sawed to a predetermined maximum tip length and routed to a container. The remaining cut made here are &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;center cuts,&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; which are likewise routed to a container.

United States Patent [191 Barker [451 Aug. 21, 1973 METHOD OF PACKINGASPARAGUS FOR THE GROWING FIELD [76] Inventor: George R. Barker,Banning, Calif.

[22] Filed: Aug. 24, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 66,238

Related US. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 770,722, Oct. 25,1968, Pat. No.

[52] US. Cl. 99/100 R, 99/233.12 [51] Int. Cl A23l 1/00 [58] Field ofSearch 99/171 R, 186, 17, 99/100 R, 103; 53/123 R; 56/327 A; 146/81 R,81 A [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,333,858 3/1920 Low eta1 146/81 A 1,579,598 4/1926 De Back.... 146/81 A 1,785,795 12/1930Stoppel 146/81 A 1,872,889 8/1932 Champlin et a1. 146/81 A 2,791,8785/1957 Kepner 56/327 A 3,353,577 11/1967 Bruel et a1. 146/81 R PrimaryExaminer-Norman Yud'koff Assistant Examiner-Kenneth P. Van WyckAttorney-Lyon and Lyon [57] ABSTRACT A method of harvesting asparagusutilizing an asparagus harvester which engages the growing asparagus inthe field, saws the asparagus below the ground, releases the asparagusbutt first onto a grooved belt, then conveys the asparagus up an inclinewhere the asparagus is conveyed butt first onto a second groovedconveyor belt and against a stop member; this conveyor belt travelsperpendicular to the first belt. After the asparagus comes to a stop,the butt portions which were growing underground are sawed off by asecond saw, and the remainder of the spears are allowed to travel alongthis belt until they reach a sorting member at which they are sortedinto two predetermined lengths; the short spears are passed directlyfrom this member into one box. The longer spears are oriented tip firstand are carried up a conveyor belt to another grooved conveyor runningperpendicular and horizontal to the last conveyor. Here the longerspears are sawed to a predetermined maximum tip length and routed to acontainer. The remaining cut made here are center cuts, which arelikewise routed to a container.

1 Claim, 11 Drawing Figures PATENIEDABGZI B75 SHEU 2 0F 6 INVENTOR.660,666 15/451555 ATTOEA EVS PAIENTED M1621 I973 SHEET 3 UP 6 mvzzmoa660666 5,4 556E 1477 e/vys IAIENIEDMIBZI ms 3.753.736

' saw u 0F 6 IN VENTOR. 660566 mezee BY a 0 PATENIED M1621 I973 sum 5 or3 INVEN TOR. 660 665 EAEKEE i 3% A Tram/6V5 METHOD OF PACKING ASPARAGUSFOR THE GROWING FIELD The present invention is directed to the method ofharvesting and assorting asparagus and is a division of my co-pendingapplication Ser. No. 770,722 filed Oct. 25, 1968 and now U.S. Pat. No.3,548,577 for Asparagus Harvester" and is directed to the mode ofoperation of that apparatus.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Previously asparagus was cut by hand andboxed in the field by laborerscutting the spears from the underlyingplants with a knife every day or two during the several months growingperiod. This practice left the grower subject to various problems inobtaining labor to do this hand picking, trimming and sorting. After theasparagus was cut and field processed it was then shipped to the cannersor other processors who then had to further trim the asparagus and cutit to the required tip lengths and then washed it and the orientation ofthe spears was done usually by hand.

The present invention provides a method whereby a processor may ordercertain desired asparagus tips and center cut portions directly from thegrower and receive already cut and trimmed tips, ready for washing andprocessing.

One of the principle objects of the present invention is the eliminationof a large number of personnel who are required to cut, pick, and sortthe asparagus as it is grown in the field.

Another principle object of the present invention is to provideasparagus tips to the consumer which meets his length specificationswithout requiring any further cutting.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a simpleand inexpensive method of cutting growing asparagus, removing theunwanted butt end, sorting the asparagus, and cutting the tips to thedesired length.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus whichcan be maintained and operated by a very few workers.

A still further object of the present invention is to reduce the cost ofharvesting and preparing asparagus to consuming public.

A still further object and advantage of the present invention is thatthe trimming of the asparagus is done in the field and the trimmingsbecome beneficial humus and need not be discarded later to become apollutant.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparant from the following specification when read with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a side elevation of the asparagusharvester illustrating the location of the last cutting saw.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the asparagus harvester illustrating thefirst cutting saw and the conveyor and sorting mechanisms between thetwo cutting saws.

FIG. 3 is an elevation of the front end of the asparagus harvester.

FIG. 4 is an elevation of the rear end of the asparagus harvester.

FIG. 5 is an isometric projection of the conveyors and saw utilized incutting the asparagus tips to a specific length.

FIG. 6 is a top elevation of the device shown in FIG. 5 illustrating themovements of one conveyor to the other.

FIG. 7 is an isometric projection of the feed conveyor from theharvester pick-up to the butt-cutting saw.

FIG. 8 is a detail of the length-sorting assembly taken from lines 8-8of FIG. 2.

FIG. 9 is an elevation taken from lines 9-9 of FIG. 8 and illustrateshow the length and center of gravity determines the sorting of theasparagus.

FIG. 10 is a schematic elevation indicating the various processesperformed by thecutting and sorting mechanisms.

FIG. 11 is a sectional elevation of the conveyors and cutting saw takenalong lines 11-11 of FIG. 10.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to FIG. I which illustratesthe left side view of the overall asparagus harvester as viewed from thenormal driving position, the harvester has a steerable front wheel 1 andrear wheels 2 which are driven by a tractor 3 and associated frameworkwhich is well known in the harvester manufacturing art.

The asparagus harvester l0 and associated pick-up conveyor 11 asdescribed in U.S. Letters Pat. No. 2,791,878, issued to Robert A.lKepner on May 14, 1957, is located in a framed in the forward portionof the harvester and is adjusted downwardly so that the bandsaw 12 willbe cutting below the ground by hydraulic cylinders 14. Once thisoperation has been perfonned, the deflector guides 16 divide theasparagus into rows to be picked up by the harvester drum 18. Thebandsaw 12 then cuts the asparagus from the ground and harvester drum 18places it butt first on conveyor 11 as described by Kepner U.S. Pat. No.2,791,878. The conveyor 11 then travels upwards from the horizontal,carrying the asparagus at a speed sufficient to place the asparagus buttend first against a stop 20 adjacent conveyor 22 which is travelingperpendicular to conveyor 11 as is best illustrated by FIGS. 3 and 7. Tothe rear of the stop 20 is a saw 24 and a roller 26. The roller holdsthe asparagus stalks against the conveyor 22 as the saw 24 cuts off thebutt ends of the asparagus which were initially underground. These buttends are then discarded onto the field.

Conveyor 22 is arranged with ribs 28 in between which the asparagusstalks lie and facilitates their movement along the conveyor.

After these stalks have been cut by saw 24, they pass along the conveyorto the sorting mechanism, which is best illustrated by FIG. 8. At thispoint, the stalks are sorted as to their length. The long stalks strikethe sorting plate 30 and as their center of gravity is further towardthe center of the plate 30, they are allowed to pass into bin 31 and upthe conveyor 32. The shorter stalks which are referred to as tips fallover the edge of plate 30 and pass into bin 33. These shorter stalks arerouted along conveyor 32 and are channeled 011' of the conveyor bydivider 34 into a box 35, as illustrated best by FIG. 10.

The longer stalks continue along conveyor 32 until they reach conveyor40 and are deposited thereon.

Conveyor 40, as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 10, has segmented channels 42on its surface. These segmented channels move the stalks perpendicularto the conveyor 32 and through saw 44, which cuts the longer stalks intospears of desired length. Saw 44 is adjustable away from stop 45 and maybe placed in any of the sets of grooves 46 to provide the desired lengthof spear. This now leaves the operator with an asparagus spear 50 and acenter cut portion 52. This spear 50 passes into a chute 60 and into apacking box 61. The center out portions are routed by chute 62 eitherinto packing box 63 or into oacking box 35 containing the short tipsdepending upon the type of pack that the operator desires.

Various changes and modifications may be made in carrying out thepresent invention without departing from the scope and spirit thereof.Insofar as these changes and modifications are within the purview of theannexed claims, they are to be considered as part of the invention.

1 claim:

1. A method of packing asparagus growing in a field comprising the stepsof cutting the asparagus below the level of the ground and concurrentlyin the growing field, dropping the cut asparagus onto a moving conveyorso that the butt ends of the asparagus strike the conveyor causing thestalks on the conveyer to be aligned with the butt ends thereof pointingin the direction of travel; directing the aligned asparagus stalksagainst positioning stop; cutting a portion from the butt ends of theasparagus stalk first; conveying the longer spears over a transverslydisposed sorting plate wherein the center of gravity of the longerspears maintains said spears on said plate while passing thereover;allowing the shorter asparagus tip portions to drop from the sortingplate as a result of the center of gravity of the shorter tip portionsbeing disposed from said plate; conveying the longer spearsperpendicular to the direc tion of the first conveying in segmentedchannels to a second cutting means while the shorter tips are conveyedto a packaging container; cutting the longer spears into sized spearsand center cut portions; packing the sized spears and packaging theremaining center cut portions, the entire operation being performed inthe growing field.

